Kingdom
|
Gehringer, Miller, Carpenter (back)
Photo by Craig Schwartz
|
By January Riddle
Kudos to The Old Globe Theatre for its outreach to communities and audiences that may not otherwise be treated to plays. Thanks to playwright and teacher, Aaron Jafferis, and the Globe’s Southeastern San Diego Residency Project, Lincoln High School is the beneficiary of some special theatrical exposure and education.
Opening night of Jefferis hip-hop musical Kingdom saw an enthusiastic, nearly full -house audience at the high school’s impressive 800-seat Center for the Arts, a testament to the successful “mountain to Mohammed” philosophy of bringing live theatre to the people.
Capably directed by Ron Daniels, the play is about young men and women whose societal estrangement leads them to join gangs in order to achieve power and respect.
The storyline appealed to the teen-to 20s patrons, most of whom have probably not seen West Side Storyor heard of Hair, two 20th Century musicals with similar messages. The messages: 1) Young people at society’s fringes feel alienated. 2) That alienation can lead to neighborhood group and gang membership. 3) That membership too often leads to violence, death, grief and more violence.
For older and perhaps more savvy folks, Kingdom merely says the same thing with a different hip-hop, rock beat, in ways not nearly as engaging as its predecessors. But this play is not for older and savvier folks. It is for people who are young today, who experience their own alienation in their own cultures and neighborhoods in ways they believe are original, therefore meaningful to them.
Best friends, Andres and Juan, find themselves at loose ends when they lose their minimum-wage jobs at a local fast food franchise, and Juan’s precarious family situation leaves him homeless. Enter a local gang leader, Cano (an affecting Gerardo Rodriguez), who recruits them into his Latin King and Queen Nation, where they bond with other disaffected youths, fall in and out of love, make poor choices, and end up on the sad end of gangland statistics.
Unfortunately, Cano’s character is problematic, poorly drawn, and confusing. Is he a gang leader or a street preacher? His peacemaking gives weight to the latter, but in giving a gun to the impressionable Juan, he becomes more villain than savior. Perhaps he is meant to perplex, but all his incongruities are merely baffling.
Cedric Leiba, Jr. makes a plausible sad and tortured Juan, blossoming from his rather wooden opening scenes to an authentic tragic figure, although his diction needs some work. Kyle Beltran’s Andres begins more convincingly, but his exaggerated opening scenes and stance leaves his character nowhere to grow. Joey Auzenne and Miguel Jarquin-Moreland give valid performances as rival gang members Hector and Danny, especially in Auzenne’s easy, smooth movement. The ensemble members execute some lively dancing, thanks to Tony Caligagan’s basic but energetic choreography.
Directed by Cian McCarthy, the on-stage musicians serve up some vigorous tunes, created by Ian Williams. But the weak sound system on opening night delivered thin melodies and lightweight vocals that strained rather than sustained the mood.
Sean Fanning’s interesting set, with its chain-link fence memorial wall, makes a poignant point—revenge breeds revenge, a perennial situation that always ends tragically.
But it is Marisa’s speech, a plea for peace and common sense, passionately delivered by the inspiring Amirah Vann, that brings this play up from the doldrums and really rocks the boat. Vann has a presence that makes the stage move when she’s on it. You can’t help but believe her, despite the banal plot.
It’s all quite predictable, close to cliché, and absent either revelation or solution. But in asking the same old questions in modern hip-hop meter, perhaps Kingdom reaches the minds of those most vulnerable. And that makes this production and the entire Southeastern San Diego Residency Project, kudo-deserving.
Kingdom moves to the Old Globe Theatre’s stage in San Diego’s Balboa Park, playing February 19-22.
Curtain is at 8 pm Thurs & Sat; 7:30 pm Fri; with matinees Sat & Sun at 2 pm.
Tickets are $10-$65.
Reservations (619) 23-GLOBE
|
